5 Reasons Why you should Intern for a Start-Up!
How would you like it if you got a trial run for all the major decisions in life, to know how it would exactly feel to be able to live a decision before you actually make it? Without a doubt, it would be wonderful, right?
You would spend minimum 8 hours working every day, so your job would certainly be one of the most important aspects of your life.
As Steve Jobs would say, “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”
An internship before you graduate could be a great trial run. It would give you an insight as to what your preferences are in your job, what job position would actually suit you. For instance, if you would make a good marketer, sales person, or a product developer.
An internship ideally is an opportunity to get a feel of the real world job and simultaneously it beautifies your resume and prepares you for what’s out there once you graduate. Additionally, you get a handsome monthly stipend as part of your internship programme.
So, this summer don’t waste your time, intern instead! Now, that you should be serious about an internship, there is another parameter. Where should you do it from? A start-up is a way to go. It might seem better for you to opt for a big organization, might be an easy enough decision. However, a start-up would be a smarter choice. Wondering why?
Reason 1:- Becoming more proactive
The workforce, ethics, and style of working in a start-up will help you to become more proactive. There would be a million things going on at a given point of time, and you would be able to witness and learn the hustle employees go through to get the job done. Learning a skill like that would make you a hustler in any organization. This skill would make you stand out from the crowd in this cut-throat competitive industry.
Reason 2:- Having accountability
A startup will not hire you just to test you as a probable candidate because they might be stricter on their budget. You will be assigned work of actual importance that makes a difference. People using something you helped to build, is something you would thrive on. Nothing beats that satisfaction.
You will work with the team as a team member. You will be given responsibilities and deadlines, with awards and recognition for a good job. A startup accepts an intern as its own and trains, nourishes, gives responsibilities and awards as a normal employee. Feeling out of place is not something that you would undergo as you will be on the team in a very realistic way.
Reason 3:- No hierarchical BS
You would be able to work with people of different teams and talents in the startup you choose to work with.
You would be close to your superiors as startups usually believe in openness and transparency in the system. Your superiors would be your best mentors as their job would also include enabling you to produce better work by the day. Working with the core team and the higher management on a regular basis would actually enable you to understand the business model. It takes people years to get the business model in their big organizations, to actually understand how business is done.
One of the initiatives launched by Skillenza was the Blume fellowship programme. The interns were given a new tag “fellows” and also received a lot of perks and incentives, like better stipends, cool projects, and swag.
Reason 4:- Learning a key-skill, “multi-tasking”
You might also learn multi-tasking, one of the skills that’s difficult to acquire in a big organization. In a big organization, you are assigned a task, and you do it. However, in a startup you juggle. You might be asked to work with a UX-designer and help him with his ideas, then maybe write the front end code, and then maybe test the product. Multi-tasking is not a skill that comes by easily, and you would be equipped with it even before you graduate.
Within a few months, if you are smart enough, you would know what work truly makes you happy. Your mentor would help you work through your talents and make them better. It would help you truly understand what you would be good at, and once you graduate, you are not the ones with no idea what to do or just accept what you are offered. You know your path, now, you just need to act, make way, and walk towards it. Isn’t that amazing?
Reason 5:- Building relationships
As you directly work with the top management of the company, you can expect to get an offer if they succeed, if not you can use their network to land yourself in another company with a role that you truly want, and not something that is pushed to you by the company. For example: — In many IT services company, as a fresh candidate, you will not be given an option to choose between development, testing or support let alone allow you to choose in what technology you want to work.
In a start-up the workforce is small and you get to know each other well and be friends with. So, you already will have friends in the industry with whom you can be in touch, who can help you in a great deal once you are done with your college. That’s something you wouldn’t want to miss.
For instance, BLUME fellows got a chance to meet Blume partners and the portfolio founders. It’s not every day you can meet these people.
Being an intern in a start-up usually meant working for free, but that’s not what is the industry norm now. If you show great attitude, talent, learnability, you could be getting good wages with of course all the five reasons. So, don’t be lazy, send out your best resumes, and be eager to start interning this summer.
Go to internhunt and discover cool internship opportunities and be amazing.
